Gilroy
– Sgt. Kurt Svardal has been promoted to captain, filling a
vacancy left by Jack Robinson’s departure last year. Svardal beat
out nearly a dozen applicants for the job,
Gilroy – Sgt. Kurt Svardal has been promoted to captain, filling a vacancy left by Jack Robinson’s departure last year. Svardal beat out nearly a dozen applicants for the job, said Chief Gregg Giusiana, who selected Svardal “mainly because of his experience.”
“He knows the organization well,” said Giusiana, “and he’s worked very hard to get the job.”
Svardal joined the Gilroy Police Department in 1992, and has worked a wide range of assignments, including patrol, gangs, major accidents, the canine unit and the Special Operations Group, Gilroy’s version of a SWAT team. Currently, he serves as the department’s public information officer. Once Svardal is promoted, that job will be reassigned.
“It’s always great to have a new challenge,” said Svardal, who learned of his promotion Thursday night. He’s not sure what his new responsibilities will be, he said, because “we’re still deciding how to redistribute Captain Jack Robinson’s work.” Night work was one possibility, he added.
Svardal’s promotion leaves a sergeant’s spot vacant. Another assignment, that of corporal, has been empty since Eric Tiner’s departure last fall. But the spots won’t stay vacant for long: Gilroy police are testing for the two promotions today.
